Three Wishes
by rachg82
Summary: Three wishes, three elephants, & Caddyshack. Naturally. (Spoilers for Je Souhaite, mainly, but some nods to Per Manum, Sein Und Zeit, & All Things as well.)


Note: My muse insisted again on me writing this mostly in free verse (still trying to not over-think & question that), so my advice is to read it slowly to let the words & intended rhythm of the piece properly soak in.

As usual, Scully was right. This was a guy movie.

It had long been one of his all-time favorites,  
and he'd been excited all evening  
to share it with her.

With his final wish,  
he'd granted the genie her freedom  
to live life as a mortal -  
to let an unpredictable, inescapable death  
supply each temporary breath with meaning,  
and allow her at long last to stop  
& experience the present for exactly what it was.

No more,  
no less.

No better, no worse.

No longer  
would her focus need to be on what everyone else didn't have,  
nor on all the ill-fated fantasies that had remained  
perpetually out of their grasping reach;  
rather, she could shift it to the simple, low-hanging fruits  
the universe kindly bestowed upon her,  
resting easy with the knowledge  
that she desired nothing else.

Diving into the deep end  
of both pain and pleasure,  
the blessing & the curse  
of not having it all under control -  
the ability to conform, to belong,  
and start each day  
with a strong cup of bitter coffee  
and the sweet touch of cream.

Mulder figured it was about time  
that he & Scully got to shrug off the weight of the world as well,  
if only for one night.

Or at least that had been his official excuse  
when he'd impulsively cooked up this plan.

Really, he just wanted to see her smile.  
Experiencing a world without her that day  
had triggered his deepest anxieties  
to come out & play.

He needed to remind himself that she was still there,  
that he could still smell her,  
talk to her,  
maybe even touch her.

Okay,  
so perhaps that last part had factored in more than he'd prefer to admit,  
but could you blame him?

For more than a month now, his mind had been re-playing the same scenes  
again & again  
as they gingerly danced around each other  
and the three elephants in the room which they'd created.

One for the night  
their unborn dream died.

Two for the toe-tag on his mother's cold foot,  
Scully's warm arms wrapped securely around him.

(Don't go)

 _I'm here. I'm not going anywhere._

Three for the two cups of tea they drank  
and the sky-bending revelations that were shared -  
waking up at 1 in the morning to find the one person in his life  
who still mattered  
standing by his bed, determined yet shy,  
in a hypnotizing pair  
of lacy, black underwear.

His mouth had hung open for a full five seconds  
before he finally closed it, swallowing all the insufficient words  
he didn't know how to say.

As always, where one faltered,  
the other pushed on.

"I'm sorry - I didn't let you finish before..."

She paused,  
mustering up her resolve,  
gathering momentum.

He shook his head lightly & cleared his throat.  
He had meant to say _"It's okay"_ , but all in the air in the room  
had suddenly gone perfectly still, and he found that he couldn't speak  
for fear of breaking the spell.

She continued,  
"If all our choices led to this very moment,  
then I believe we are precisely where we are supposed to be.  
I told you once, a long time ago, that I would do it all over again.  
I still would."

She took in a deep breath, looked him squarely in the eyes  
and simply asked,  
"Mulder, do you want me?"

There were so many ways to answer that question,  
but only one would do.

 _God, yes._

Since then,  
they'd had ample opportunities  
to address those words  
and all the tiny miracles that had bloomed  
in their light,  
but life kept getting in the way.

*They* kept getting in the way.

Neither was exactly sure how to take the next step.  
They both finally agreed they were on the right path,  
but it had led them to a foreign landscape.

Their working relationship was familiar & established,  
a reassuring retreat  
to shield them from the wild force of their own unrestrained emotions,  
but they couldn't hide forever.

When was the last time anyone had even asked Scully out on a date?

Wait,  
he didn't actually want to know that.

Point was,  
it was his turn to make a move. That was clear.  
She was already his partner in every possible way -  
his lover, his savior, his very best friend;  
the least he could do was invite her over  
for dinner and a movie.

Well, popcorn and a movie.  
Close enough.

No butter, though - that was disappointing,  
but comforting in its predictability.  
Un-American or not, he'd continued eating more & more,  
if only to find a way of occupying his busy hands.

He was afraid if he let them roam loose,  
they might just get a mind of their own  
& head hungrily under Scully's modest, white top,  
directly set for that push-up bra of hers.

Oh, he'd noticed.  
He was pretty sure she'd known he would,  
but he could at least hold out for the final credits,  
couldn't he?

I mean, what was he, sixteen-years-old again?

Fortunately for his ego,  
she didn't seem immune to him either.  
They'd both been swapping an equal amount of surreptitious glances  
as they pretended in vain to give two shits about a gopher.

He was determined to keep his cool just a little while longer.

Too bad she'd always lit a fire inside him  
that burned brighter than a thousand  
supernovas.

Even blinded by the sun,  
this woman still made him see stars.

Once upon a time,  
he'd made wishes upon each one.

Three constellations of elephants later,  
filling up the sky -  
he could map out entire nebulas in her eyes.

The fact of the matter was,  
he had no use for genies now.

Who needed wishes  
when this was your reality?

Still,  
he had to admit he could use some help  
not losing his damned mind  
as he nervously stole another look  
at the bewitching creature beside him.

This time, however, she was slyly staring back.

His left knee begin to bounce of its own accord.  
He felt like each of his limbs were positively humming.

She gently stilled him with a steady hand to his thigh.

"Mulder," she murmured. "You don't really want to make me finish this movie, do you?"

He licked his lips;  
his mouth had other ideas.

"What else did you have in mind?"

She replied by climbing onto his lap  
and softly kissing his ear.

He could feel her breath on his neck,  
sending waves of goosebumps up & down his back.

Oh, this was definitely a better plan than Bill Murray.

He pulled back & shot her a dizzy grin.  
"Scully, have I ever told you how much I actually love it when you're right?"

She snorted, rolling her eyes. "Not even remotely."

Cupping her hips with his palms,  
he gave them a slight squeeze  
and whispered, "Well, remind me to start."

 _One step at a time_ , he thought.  
He could get used to this.

 **Fin**

As always, thanks for reading, and please let me know if you enjoyed it! Positive feedback is like manna to me.


End file.
